Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery System

The Mount Sinai Health System offer one of the most advanced stereotactic radiosurgery technologies available — the Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery System. This system can precisely treat the brain, head and neck, spine and other body parts.

This state-of-the-art image-guided system makes it possible to pinpoint and target tumors with sub-millimeter accuracy — a precision achieved by combining 3-D, X-ray-based imaging technology and revolutionary beam-focusing technology called multi-leaf collimation.

Using the Novalis Shaped Beam Surgery System, our neurosurgeons and radiation oncologists shape the radiation beam to precisely match the size and shape of your tumor or lesion, thereby delivering the dose exactly where it is needed without affecting the surrounding tissue. This precision allows for optimal radiation dose delivery and often makes it possible to complete treatment in a single session. Stereotactic radiosurgery can also be delivered in multiple doses. Whether you will need one or multiple sessions will depend on your unique situation.

Advantages

The Novalis system presents a number of advantages over other systems commonly used for stereotactic radiosurgery, such as the gamma knife, Cyberknife®, or conventional linear accelerators. These advantages include:

The ability to monitor and adjust the beam to small patient movements during the treatment session so that the accuracy of the radiation beam is maintained throughout the procedure

More precise delivery of the individual radiation dose, ensuring greater treatment efficiency and less risk to healthy surrounding tissue

A versatility that permits stereotactic radiosurgery to be expanded to treat lesions of the spine and organs such as the prostate, lung, and pancreas

Because stereotactic radiosurgery is a non-invasive procedure, it is usually performed on an outpatient basis. Patients feel nothing as the beam treats the tumor. Side effects associated with standard radiation therapy, (such as nausea, red skin, or hair loss) are rare. Most patients resume regular activities within days.